Tag Archives: Orrington

Thank you to David Swett for his research efforts.This text was retyped by Philippa Harvey in March 2011.

Helen Tupper asked me to give a talk today, and I dragged my feet long and hard because I do not consider myself a good or interesting speaker. I finally agreed as she said I could speak on town history or my family history, which has been written. This way it would not require a lot of research on my part as I was not up on the history of cemeteries in Orrington.

I made the mistake of asking David Swett if he knew where information on the cemetery that was near the old meeting house might be. He gave me two large, 500 page books transcribed from Historical Society papers and a hundred pages that he had transcribed from the town clerks’ Book #1. He also gave me his transcriptions of the gravestones of Orrington cemeteries. WELL! I am President of the North Orrington Cemetery Association and had wanted this information on the Marston Cemetery to make our files more complete. I put all this data along with our cemetery data on a spreadsheet and alphabetized it. Mary Bowden and Abigail Williamson checked it and corrections were made. I could not seem to stop so I have done the same to all the cemeteries in town, active or not. The data on the other cemeteries is being checked and these files will be up-graded. That info, along with cemetery plans, is here for you to look at if you wish. What a job Helen got me into. But then, this is the way that most of the jobs that are supposed to be of little effort turn out to be.

Most of the material I will be presenting this evening is information from David Swett’s research. Not enough can be said about the effort and determination that he has put into this. He has or is in the process of copying items about Orrington up to the early twentieth century. These records include but are not limited to: town clerk records, historical society papers (two volumes), registry of deed records, court records, probate records – and David even went to the county seats of Wiscassett and Ellsworth to do this. I have arranged the cemetery information from his work chronologically, hoping that it makes sense.

Orrington was incorporated in 1788.

In 1780 Joshua Chamberlain (grandfather to Civil War Joshua Chamberlain of Brewer) deeded to the town for $45.00 one hundred fifty square rods, or just over nine-tenths of an acre of land, for a meeting house near where the Town Pound is located on the Main Road with the stipulation that it would be used only for a meeting house, outbuildings, and sheds.

In 1799 the town elected a committee to see to clearing a road on the town lot to the burying ground and to clear the same. It is hard to tell if this reference is the meeting house or the Old Settlers Cemetery, but in any case the first cemetery by name or location is from a deed dated 1803, again from Joshua Chamberlain. It looks like the same lot, only he waived the Meeting House only requirement and allowed a burying ground to be located there. By 1806 Joseph Rooks, who apparently owned the land on the other side of the road, deeded four-tenths of an acre to the town for $24.37.

In 1809 the town voted to look into the question of a cemetery located on Benjamin Snow’s property (this had to have been Baker Hill) to see if the town had the title. Apparently they did not because nothing else is written for this cemetery.

In 1811 the town bought the private cemetery which is now called Dean Hill from Rev. Enoch Mudge. They bought one-fourth acre for $75.00. This was a triangular piece not bordering the road.

By 1826 the town chose a committee to look into buying a lot from Mr. Wheelden. This is the Old Settlers Cemetery that is no longer active. A committee was to procure a deed and fence it in. The next year the town voted to fence the cemetery near Ephraim Goodale’s. This must be the now discontinued cemetery on the Goodale Road, which is also discontinued. In 1828 the town voted to purchase and fence the Old Settlers Cemetery. I believe that your group has recorded the names of these two cemeteries previously. Swett’s list agreed very closely with yours.

Again in 1829 the town voted to fence in the burying ground near the meeting house.

In 1834 a piece of land was bought from Samuel Swett for a cemetery. This plot became the Oak Hill Cemetery.

In 1836 the town again raised the question of whether to fence the Meeting House cemetery and the new one purchased from Samuel Swett.

Some of the expenses paid on the cemeteries work were as follows:

One day myself on fence ………. $1.00

A boy for four hours …………….. $.12

A horse ………………………………..$.12

In 1850 the selectmen were requested to lay out a graveyard in the vicinity of Nathaniel Marston’s property. By that fall the selectmen had made a deal with Mr. Thomas Barstow to purchase one and one-fourth acres of land opposite old Mr. Marston’s house. The property measured ten rods on the road and twenty rods deep.

In 1855 a committee on burying grounds was appointed, and they finally got down to business. They (J.H. Nickerson was chairman) purchased eight or ten acres of land from Warren Nickerson Esq. for $500.00 to be paid for over a three year time frame. Notes and deeds were taken in a private capacity. The chairman reserved two and one-fourth acres for the burying ground (this abutted the previous lot purchased from Mr. Mudge) and sold the rest for $525.00 with $250.00 down and the rest to be a note for three years. After deducting $5.00 for interest the town ended up with the cemetery and $20.00 to boot.

At some point in 1855 the committee examined the burying ground near the old meeting house. They found very little good ground left and there was no opportunity to enlarge. They also recognized that the fence was out of repair so they recommended discontinuing this ground. They also found the graveyard at South Orrington was about all occupied, and it too had no room for enlargement. They looked around and could not find any other area that would justify paying the price being asked. A very depressing report was given for the condition and status of all the burying grounds in town. The committee recommended having one large centrally located cemetery in town.

Also in 1855 an article was placed in the town warrant in which the committee recommended the corpses be removed from the Meeting House Cemetery. Friends of the deceased would be consulted to see where they would like the remains moved. In September of that year the committee was instructed to move the corpses of those for whom consent had been given by the survivors. Other corpses would be moved to condense the yard, and they would fence in the same. The Committee on Graveyards gave their second and final report at the September meeting in which they stated that much pains were taken to consult the friends of the deceased and that all had finally consented to have the corpses removed.

Forty were moved to the upper yard in town. (No doubt Marston)

Three were moved to Brewer.

The remaining thirty-eight were moved to the Dean Hill lot.

There were one hundred eighty-one moved total.

They were instructed to build a fence around the Dean lot, which they did and described it very well in their report. Some of the fence from the old yard was used for this. They also reported that they were able to find suitable land in South Orrington for a cemetery from Mr. Wheelden at $1.50 for two acres, which became Pine Hill Cemetery. The total cost listed by the Committee was:

Lot purchase at South Orrington ……………………… $1.50

Fencing the same …………………………………………….$95.78

Blasting and digging stones ………………………………$132.71

Moving one hundred, eighty-one corpses …………..$160.34

Total……………………………………………………………….$539.29

Note: This does not add up to the mentioned figure so no doubt there is something left out. The labor for moving the corpses was typically billed at three days labor at $5.50. For the next few years several bills were submitted to the town for digging stones and blasting rocks in graveyards.

By 1859 it appears that one of the old graveyards on Center Drive between Johnson Mill Road and East Dow Road was dug up and the bodies were taken to Oak Hill.

It would seem miraculous today if we could get a cemetery moved from conception to completion in the span of one year, but it was accomplished then.

Just a few lines to let you know that I am still O.K. and think of you folks often. Not much news over here, at least that I can write about. I meant to write more often and received your letter with Jane’s and Mary Ellen’s but we moved out at that time so I couldn’t get to it. This is about the first time I’ve had since then. They are keeping us pretty busy but we aren’t kicking because time passes more quickly that way.

At present I am sitting outside my dugout enjoying the sunshine – the reason – the inside is full of water and besides we don’t get much sun to enjoy. If anyone had told me I would be living like a ground hog, I wouldn’t have believed them but I am now, and liking it.

I hope Harvey hasn’t been called up yet and that he won’t be, but the Army does funny things so no one knows. I should think it would be much better to take these single men who have these so called defense jobs and like to strike so much. But I am not paid to think so my opinion isn’t worth a damn. I wish they would give us fellows a chance to swap places with the strikers though. If a guy goes on strike over here, it’s his own neck. Well, I guess I’ve mumbled on enough for this time so until next time so long and write when you can.

Love to all,

Don

Donald Holyoke of Brewer married Dorothea Crook of East Orrington on August 17, 1941. He was still a Lieutenant when this letter was written and a Captain when he died. The letter was sent to his wife’s brother and his sister-in-law who lived in Orrington – all Orrington mail had a Brewer address at that time.

This letter was submitted by the Crook family and transcribed by Donna Lathrop.

The following article has been republished from a 2008 issue of Paper Talks Magazine, “Penobscot County Servicemen and Women Joined the Allied Forces During World War II.”

Raymond L. Perkins, Jr. was born on May 29, 1921, the son of Raymond, Sr. and Gladys Hillier Perkins of Orrington. He enlisted in the National Guard on 03/12/40, serving with the 152nd Field Artillery, Battery E as a truck driver and machine gunner in the Pacific Theater. He was in combat for 2 months and contracted malaria – losing 40 pounds in 2 months. Ray was medically discharged on 11/02/43 and was honored with the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon with 2 Battle Stars.Raymond settled in Orrington where he returned to the family farm. He worked for the sheriff’s department for 12 years and was employed as an R.F.D. carrier for 24 years. Louise Smith became his wife on December 12, 1943, and they raised three children – Gerald of Orrington, Peter of FL and Diane Mallory of NH. Mr. Perkins continues to live in the home in which he was born, in Orrington.*

Know all men by these presents that I, S. H. Higgins of Orrington Penobscot Co. Maine in consideration of one hundred dollars paid me by Evelyn Higgins of said Orrington, hereby sell and convey to said Evelyn Higgins the following household goods now in my house at said Orrington viz:

One black haircloth parlor set consisting of one sofa, 4 chairs, two easy chairs, one cloth covered; one centre table, one organ, one pine chamber set, one lounge, one ash writing desk with drawers, one extension table six chairs, two featherbeds, two mattresses, two rag carpets and one manila carpet. Also all the dishes and all other furniture in said house belonging to me. And I hereby put the said Evelyn Higgins in possession and ownership of said property by delivering her this indenture.

This letter is believed to have been written by Delia Cottle Smith, Sharon Caron’s grandmother. Delia was Beulah Hardison Smith’s mother-in-law. She was the mother of Vernon Vanbuskirk Smith and his sister Adria, the letter’s other author.

Orringtons Illustrated Monthly News

March 9th, 1910

My dear Boy. I entended to write to you Sunday but was called out at 3 in the morning – Ferd came after me and about 4 a dear little [baby] was born – a little girl and looks like Ethel – she is so pleased with it – there nurse was sick and couldnt come so I stayed until today Monday p.m. until they got someone & I got $2.00 for it. Yesterday was a lovely day – as I went out at the back door there set three [boys] by the side of the house – Arthur K Harold E and Donald B – Adria said Don came in here to see you and was surprised to find you away – he wanted your address but papa couldn’t find it so he said he would write to Whitman – you better send him your address – this has been a terrible day, been raining [pitchforks] all day and the snow is nearly all gone and the ice is not safe now – big holes and I guess it will go out early this spring.

Nattie K is going out of the hen business. I guess he can make more money at his trade – he has sold all of his [hens] – it is no use for anyone to try to keep hens if they have a trade – I wish we had his nice hen house down here. Edd Crowell is still killing [pigs] – he killed 4 last week. I dident sleep much last night – the baby was fussy until 2:30 this morning so I slept from that untill 6 oclock and I am so sleepy I will have to go to [bed] now and finish this tomorrow.

Tu morning – I will try and finish the news today to send out tonight – you know the old chairs I was going to have you remodel for me – well I got papa at it – he sawed them in two and made me the cutest little [table] like this one – only I put little pieces of dishes on the top into the putty and you cant think how pretty it looks – he done a good job – I have got to guild the edges today and varnish it and it will be done and ready to put my [plant] on. I do hope you wont get a cold this spring working out in all kinds of weather – there are lots of people around here that have been sick with colds but so far we have all escaped them. Vida Grenon was real sick Saturday with tonsilitis – the minister and wife went down to Bucksport – he came home and she stayed down over Sunday and she and Vida came up on the 9 train yesterday in all that rain. I hope she didn’t take more cold but Mrs. Grenon said they couldn’t stay there.

Well we hear the RFD [mail wagon] is coming back to the corner. They say he can’t go anywhere down there – only to card clubs – he cant get to the theaters so easy down there as he can up here – they are going to move into Grace Reeds house – well now I must go to cooking and your sister has got the dishes washed and wants to write a while so I will give this up to her.

Isent this kind of letter writing fun, the next news will be that Mr. Scogden has bought a 2 years old [horse] – he had him harnessed up and he went good – he is dark red with a white strip in his face. I had my birthday party and I had a pair of [gloves] for a present – they are tan kid – it is a lovely day today and Ethel Bowden is down here to spend the day, papa is out in the barn making a thill for his gigger – when mama went to Bangor to get my gloves she got papa a [fiddle] record, a medley – it is real pretty – I have had such a nice time to practice on the organ – I expect to be a lovely player by the time you get back – I have read that book The True Hero, do you play on your [harmonica] any.

Well Adria has stoped writing and is playing with Ethel – she has been sick just as you were when Adria was born – she is better now.

Delmont has found a chum – he is with Paul Blare the most of the time – he has never been here but once since you went away. I don’t miss your presents as I did but I miss you in the pantry – the cake hangs on so long and the baked beans we have hard work to get them eaten and I don’t bake so many either – had Tomy brought Nichols [wagon] when you went away – he says he likes it and I heard today that he was going to move to So Orrington – that is the place for him as he goes down there every morning.

The ice is so poor – lots of holes in it today.

Every one that asks for you says I am so glad for him – not one has said they were sorry you had gone so you see how glad everyone is to have you gone – oh some did say they would miss you.

It is a lovely day so I guess we will go to the Grange tonight all right – have not been since you went away – have you been to see [ ] and [ ] yet – you can take this illustrated news to him as it will only be published once a month, hopeing to hear from you soon – ever the same with love, Mother & Adria.

“In 1816, John Brooks constructed the first steamboat ever built in Cincinnati–the first to operate on the Ohio river. He became a wealthy man and invested most of his money in Cincinnati real estate. Later Nicholas Longworth, grandfather of the late Congressman Nicholas Longworth, who married Alice Roosevelt, laid claim to this real estate. There followed a series of law suits which extended over a period of years. Finally Longworth won and John Brooks became a ruined man. He died in 1822.

“James Brooks, a son of John Brooks, a native of Orrington, migrated to New Albany in Indiana, established a grocery store, and later was the organizer and president of the first railroad from the Ohio river to the Great Lakes. This transportation line was known as the New Albany and Salem railroad, and to accomplish its construction it was necessary to build a road 228 miles long through a country which had not yet entirely emerged from the conditions of pioneer life. But this indomitable man succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of his more sanguine backers.

“When the Civil War broke out, James Brooks was appointed by Secretary of War Stanton, as quartermaster general of the western federal army and the gunboats on the Mississippi river. He purchased the old Mississippi river flat floats and supervised their conversion into the Yankee gunboats which were a big factor in demolishing the Confederate forts on the Mississippi. Under the direction of James Brooks supplies were accumulated at Louisville for the use of General Sherman in his historic march to the sea. At one time during the war, James Brooks loaned the Federal government $240,000 from his private fortune. He was later reimbursed.”

In tomorrow’s column Mr. Brooks will tell the story of the ancient pottery in the Bangor district. This is a story which should appeal to many of the old timers who can remember when tinware was practically non-existent and the utensils such as milk pans, jugs and pitchers were made from Penobscot river clay.

“George Brooks’ gift as a craftsman revealed itself almost immediately after settling in Orrington. He built himself a blacksmith shop and did all kinds of blacksmithing for his neighbors. I have some of his tools made from iron imported from England. he also tanned leather for the other settlers, and set up a Dutch windmill. In company with a neighbor, Simeon Fowler, he made a kiln or two of bricks every year. He manufactured his own charcoal, and made all of his own nails. He built the first grist mill in Orrington.

“He was a strong, capable character all around, according to the records that have come down to me, and there was much grief at his death in Orrington, December 15, 1807. Before he died, he built a comfortable farmhouse for his family. After his death his widow was married for the third time to Deacon Mark Hatch of Castine. She was famed over the countryside for her grace and beauty. She died March 2, 1817, at the age of 68 years.

“After my great grandfather’s death, my grandfather, James Brooks, took over the farm and carried it on. On the place he built a substantial brick house in which I was born.

“John Brooks, a shipwright, who was my grandfather’s brother, and my great uncle, married Sallie Dean, and in 1814 heard the magic call of the west. He built an immigrant wagon and transported himself and family from Orrington to Cincinnati, where he built the noted brig Cincinnati in 1815. This ship was loaded with ears of Ohio corn and cleared for Boston via New Orleans. John Brooks arranged that some of this corn be sent to his old neighbors in Orrington.”

Mr. Brooks drew contentedly on a well-seasoned corncob pipe as we chatted beside a blazing hearth in the spacious living room of his comfortable Brewer home. Pointing to the hearth bricks, he told me that he dug them out of the cellar hole of his great grandmother’s home at Castine. British officers were quartered in this ancient house during the War of 1812, and one of them, an artist, was so intrigued by the beauty of Mr. Brooks’ great grandmother that he spent weeks painting her portrait. This portrait is still in the possession of the Brooks family.

“I dug those bricks out of the old cellar hole in Castine,” he said, “because I thought that it would be pleasant over the years to toast my feet over my great grandmother’s hearth bricks.”

This genial and cultured potter, brickmaker and anthropologist is one of the most entertaining raconteurs I have heard in many a long day, and to listen to him was akin to perusing the pages of a fascinating book. He spun me a tale of Brookses past and present that not only was livened by the tang of adventure and the sparkle of wit, but contained here and there a touch of pathos.

“My great grandfather, George Brooks”, he said, “was born in Bradford, England, and at the age of 17 left for Newfoundland to engage in the fishing trade. The following summer he entered the whaling business with a certain Captain Doan of Cape Cod, and there on Cape Cod in 1775 he met Mrs. Mary Atwood Thompson, the charming widowed sister of Captain Doan. They were married after an ardent and romantic courtship, and the following year migrated with a party of Cape Coders to Orrington.

“My great grandfather took up a wooded grant of 200 acres, built a log house, and cleared 50 acres. His cabin was located near the dwelling of James Gorton, a squatter, and later he purchased this squatter’s rights.”

I was awed when he exhibited a cannon ball fired from the gun deck of the British sloop-of-war Sylph as the English ship was sailing by the town of Orrington in the War of 1812. Mr. Brooks’ grandfather, James Brooks, was perched on a fence near his home when the ball passed so close to his head that he was literally blown off the fence to the ground, but escaped injury.

Mr. Brooks’ justifiable pride in the achievements of his ancestors caused him to visit Bradford, England, where perusal of the ancient records in the vicar’s house revealed that his forebears had resided there since the sixteenth century, and many of them were artisans of distinction.

It is a poetic coincidence that this Brewer potter and brickmaker married Edith White, granddaughter of Joseph White, proprietor of the noted Baptist Mills Pottery, Bristol, England, and a contemporary of Josiah Wedgwood, maker of the famous Wedgwood ware. Mr. Brooks is the proud possessor of several pieces of this ancient ware, including a snuff box, two cream pitchers and a sugar bowl. Mrs. Brooks died recently.

A strong, dominating strain of expert craftsmanship and artisanry which prevailed among forebears in Bradford, England, centuries ago, and persisted down through the generations until it found expression in America in the genius of shipbuilding, railroad construction and pottery making, are conspicuous in the background of the Brooks family of Orrington.

Seldom may one family boast of such varied and distinctive achievement as this family whose ancestors were among the first settlers of that beautiful Maine village on the west bank of the Penobscot river a few miles south of Bangor.

One of these Orrington Brookses built himself a covered wagon from Penobscot spruce, journeyed westward with his family, settled in Cincinnati and built the first brig and the first steamboat to run on the Ohio River.

Still another of these gifted Orrington Brookses constructed the first railroad to connect the Ohio river with the Great Lakes, during the Civil War served as quartermaster general of the western Union army under Secretary of War Stanton, and at Louisville, Ky., accumulated millions of dollars worth of supplies which enabled General Sherman to make his epochal march from Atlanta to the sea and break the backbone of the rebellion.

And not less distinctive than these Brookses who helped to make history for the United States is Harrison Nash Brooks of the Brooks brickyard, Brewer, who inherits in a large measure the artistry and craftsmanship which has run like a golden thread for centuries in the Brooks family fabric. Mr. Brooks is a potter of exceptional genius as well as an expert manufacturer of brick, and his excavations in clay deposits in the Penobscot River region have furnished valuable contributions to the anthropological and historical lore of the Maine district. His house in Brewer is a veritable museum of relics, which have to do not only with the early history of his family in Maine, but with the stirring events of the Revolution and War of 1812.